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My Heart has Awakened

It’s finally here, and I can’t believe how excited I am. I had a conversation with my sister, and we both concluded that having any kind of feelings about Star Wars again was awesome, especially given where we’ve been for the last decade or so (and that’s as someone who didn’t even dislike the prequels that much). Random thoughts in no particular order:

I think it’s interesting that the stormtrooper in focus during the drop scene is quite a bit shorter than the rest. If it is Boyega, I think this might be the hint that he isn’t actually an Imperial.

The new lightsaber design is silly, but I will hold out until we know more. The scene evokes a mood, at least.

Daisy Ridley’s character seems cool already. She’s our Luke analog, obviously. That gaffi stick on her speeder in the close shot has a piece of Darth Maul’s lightsaber on it-intentional or a lazy prop-builder? And then it’s gone for the shot where she speeds away, so they must be different scenes. Sneaky, JJ.

Love Serkis’s voice over. It almost sounds altered in some way, but the man’s a chameleon.

X-wings. Water. So cool.

Added: It looks like the X-Wing…uh…wings (they’re S Foils, I know) look like they interlock now, instead of stacking like the ones in the original trilogy. Just the march of progress, or some new key design element?

I had no idea that was Oscar Isaac. He looks like he went a few rounds with a Wookee. Why so puffy, Llewyn? Love the rebel logo on his outfit. Is the rebellion still going, or are they some sort of remnant? A rogue squadron, if you will?

The droid is cute. The droids have always been cute. Don’t understand the hate.

Everyone keeps mentioning that McQuarrie’s discarded designs from the original trilogy are all over this. It makes sense, but do we really want the stuff Lucas rejected?

The Millennium Falcon is without a doubt the most majestic spaceship ever designed, and it’s good to see new footage of it that isn’t some background easter egg.

I love that the theme of this trailer is “tension.” Every character is going somewhere on some kind of mission. No staring out at the twin suns, no longing. Just action. That could be good or bad.

Where’s the SPAAAACE? Why is everything on the surface of a planet?

I’ll probably add some more thoughts as time goes on, but simply put I think this is a perfect way for the cycle to begin. I am still afraid that Disney is going to Marvel-ify the Star Wars universe and take their marketing cues from that division, but the openness and emphasis on the feeling of this trailer instead of the ever-present story cycle that Marvel needs to push seems promising.